Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has deleted 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary voter register following a nationwide review of entries from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
The commission also removed records of 1,749 deceased persons, INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan said on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the review.
Amupitan said the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the exercise. Its Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination.
He clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically render a registration invalid, as each case underwent further examination and authorised adjudication.
The clean-up followed complaints, claims and objections raised by Nigerians after the preliminary register was displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026. The display drew criticism over suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual names and entries belonging to deceased persons.
Amupitan also disclosed that 54 registration officials across 10 states had been identified for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over their alleged involvement in irregularities uncovered during the exercise.
INEC said it would publish the cleaned-up register of voters on December 16, 2026, in accordance with the Electoral Act.
